


When a Man's In Love He Feels No Cold

by GentleMoirai



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alpha Sherlock, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega John, Omega Verse, Requited Love, Resolved Sexual Tension, Unrequited Love, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-08 13:56:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1943736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GentleMoirai/pseuds/GentleMoirai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John's love of Celtic music leads to revelations about Sherlock and John and how they feel about each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When a Man's In Love He Feels No Cold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [avawatson (avawtsn)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avawtsn/gifts).



> For avawatson as part of AU Exchangelock on Tumblr. I will post ch. 2 soon but I wanted to get something up by the deadline. Explicit rating for coming chapter. Obviously, Holmes and Watson belong to ACD and Gatiss and Moffat. I do not profit from this.

John turned on his favorite internet radio station: the one he had jokingly labeled Kilts and Moors. It was programmed with nothing but Scottish and Irish music and it was his favorite to listen to when he was cooking or cleaning around 221B. The music always made the tasks go quicker and made home feel a little bit homier. His parents had both left Scotland as adults, looking for work in England. While he had grown up here their home had been full of Scots pride and he had adored the frequent holidays back to Scotland where he was surrounded by his extended relatives from the Watson and MacAulay clans. So he enjoyed being in touch with that part of himself by listening to the old ballads and remembering where he came from.

Sherlock either understood that John would have glared him into silence if he complained about the music, or, just maybe, he like the songs too, because he had never complained when John turned it on. John glanced up from his preparations to wash dishes to see Sherlock lounging on their couch in his usual no case uniform of pajama pants and t-shirt. Today he had forgone the dressing gown surprisingly. It made John take a second look. Without some version of his dramatic coat Sherlock looked unusually young and approachable. This would be how a lover would see him before they climbed into bed together, assuming Sherlock slept in pajamas and not naked, which somehow seemed more like what Sherlock would.....

Stop! John turned back to the sink and gripped the edge of the counter, watching the water slowly fill the sink. He did not allow himself to have thoughts like that about his flatmate. Sherlock had told him the first night they met that he was bonded to his work and since then he had rebuffed any omega who had so much as bared their throat to him, be they client, criminal, police officer, or even one time, an MI6 agent. Sherlock had already been furious that they had to involve Mycroft, regardless of the risk that a home grown extremist group was planning on targeting the visiting Filipino president, so when the omega agent who escorted them out had made the mistake of complimenting Sherlock's deductions and sending a slight pheromone signature to indicate interest Sherlock had cut into the man with several dismissive observations and left with a snear. When an alpha turned down a handsome, fit, omega who had clearly been smart and deadly enough to rise to such a position under Mycroft, well, you knew he really meant it when he said he wasn't interested. Sherlock was John's best friend, the best friend he had ever had, and John had friends he had been to war with. He would not risk their relationship by being disrespectful of Sherlock's preference to be celibate and unbonded. With that John focused on sliding the dishes into the soapy water and listening to the woman currently singing along with an energetic fiddle and drum.

****

Sherlock drifted back to the sitting room from his mind palace. He had been organizing a few interesting observations from their last case so that he was up to date on current slang terms among London's pickpocketing gangs. He took in his surroundings. John was washing the dishes and singing along to bits of song when he knew the words of the chorus. While John generally had no music preferences, which was good because it meant he was happy to simply listen to Sherlock play his violin, he had a definite preference for Celtic music when he had tasks to do around the house. Sherlock studied John's face as he washed up beakers listened to the story the song was telling.

“It's not just because it reminds you of Scotland.”

“Hmmm.” John shot him a look. “Oh, you're back with us are you?”

“I said,” Sherlock repeated with a bit of annoyance, “it's not just because it reminds you of Scotland.”

“Sorry,” John shot back, not sounding the least bit sorry at annoying Sherlock, “you'll have to give me a bit more context than that Sherlock. I assume you are talking about the music.” 

“You enjoy listening to Celtic music, partially because it reminds you of happy childhood memories of feeling loved and surrounded by your extended family in Scotland, but that's not the only reason. There's something about the songs themselves that you enjoy. What is it?”

John laughed. “For once, I actually know exactly what you mean and can give you an answer.” John set down scientific glassware he had been working on and got a dish towel to dry off his hands. “Still today you can turn on the radio and catch these dumb pop songs where the omega is pining after the alpha, waiting for the alpha to bite them and give them lots of pups so their life can be complete. It's so unrealistic and unoriginal but I guess it still sells. But listen to these songs. They were written centuries before the omega rights movement and they have such great alpha, omega, and even beta characters. There's omegas who won't give in to a pushy alpha they don't like, or who run away from an arranged bond with an alpha to be with their beta lover. I remember hearing these songs and really liking the people in them. It made me feel like I could be whatever sort of omega I wanted.” John laughed out loud, “I guess I've always felt that my wild Scottish blood had something to do with me being able to be an omega, and a doctor, and a soldier.” 

“Hmm,” Sherlock processed John's response. It was obviously something John had thought about before and it gave him a surprising amount of insight into his ever surprising flatmate.

“You know,” John continued, “there was a song the other day that made me think of us.”

“Really? A song about a consulting detective and an army doctor? You're right, these songs have much greater variety than any pop music I've heard.” Sherlock teased.

“Ha ha. I meant it was about an alpha who wouldn't be pinned down to any of the omegas who tried to bond with him and instead decided to pledge to roam forever with his best alpha friend.”

Sherlock stared at John. John had said it so calmly. He was going back to the dishes like he hadn't just told Sherlock that he heard a song about a pair of men throwing off their secondary gender roles and spending the rest of their lives together and that. it. made. him. think. of. THEM.

Sherlock got off the couch and quickly moved to the entrance of the kitchen. “Yes, I mean...yes, it is like us...We're...” He stood there staring at John. His mind was flying. He'd never seen any sign...John went on dates....told everyone they weren't bonded...what did he mean....

Sherlock needed more data. “Tell me how it made you think of us.” He tried to not sound like he was giving an order.

“Well, yeah. You're not interested in omegas and I had planned to keep doing uh....this” John gestured vaguely between the two of them in a way that seemed to encompass them, the flat, possibly the whole of London “... as long as we could. Did you have other plans?”

Oh, thought Sherlock. Same song, different interpretation. John saw the rejection of omegas as the rejection of sex and love, while Sherlock saw the two alphas together as the epitome of love for a person, not a gender role. Of course John would only see the most obvious interpretation. But wait, what had he said...

“John, I'm not not interested in omegas.”

The look on John's face confirmed that that had sounded as stupid to John as it did in Sherlock's mind.

“What I mean is, I'm not interested in omegas, or alphas, or betas...”

“I know Sherlock and that's all fine.” John blushed a little. “I know you aren't interested in sex.”

“No, I do want sex!”

Sherlock and John both froze. Sherlock wondered how he had managed to say more stupid things in the last few minutes than Anderson usually accomplished in an hour.

“Let me finish.” Sherlock quickly tried to regain his composure. He had to make sure John understood because he seemed to have been reading Sherlock's meaning wrong this entire time they'd been living together. “It's not that I am unintersted in sex or..love...I just am uninterested in all that being built on alpha/ omega dynamics. I don't care if a person is an omega or a beta or another alpha. I care if they are interesting and....” Sherlock trailed off a bit. “It's the person I find appealing, John.”

They stared at each other. John quietly processing what Sherlock had told him. 

“Actually, that makes a lot of sense Sherlock. It's sort of like how you pick cases. It's not about the motives or the sentiment behind the cases, you just care if they're interesting. It makes sense that you'd be drawn to people the same way.” 

Sherlock nodded but the felt a chill in his stomach as John continued.

“So you're like the alpha in the song because he wasn't interested in people just because they were omegas, he just wanted to be with his...his best friend......his lover?”

Sherlock wished he could fall through the floor. God, how embarrassing. He quickly continued through the kitchen to his bedroom. He had thought John was telling him that he understood that they were more than an alpha and omega, they were two people who had chosen each other. And in fact John was telling him he that, to a certain extent. But what choosing each other meant was decidedly platonic in John's telling. 

Sherlock closed his bedroom door and began to hurriedly change his clothes. He need to get out of the flat.

**Author's Note:**

> Title inspired by When A Man's in Love, sung by Mary Dillon  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR-R6iggZY0


End file.
